The relationships between iron deficiency, iron metabolism and the intestinal tract function can be analyzed from various perspectives: 1. the intestine as the site of iron absorption regulated by hepcidin produced in the liver; 2. the interaction between iron with other nutrients; 3. repercussions of iron deficiency in the intestine and 4. the intestine as the location of pathological loses that can cause or aggravate iron deficiency. The aim of this article is to cover these aspects of the interaction between iron and the intestinal tract. In iron deficiency, an increase in iron absorption has been observed, which in animals is accompanied by an increase in the height of the intestinal villosities. On the other hand, in humans with iron deficiency anemia, abnormalities of the intestinal physiology, different to those found in the laboratory, can occur. Poor intestinal iron absorption can occur in illnesses such as atrophy of the villosities as occurs in celiac disease and in illnesses associated with inflammation anemia such as cholestatic hepatic diseases. Nowadays blood loses from intestinal parasitosis are not a frequent cause of iron deficiency. Infants who have a high risk of developing iron deficiency anemia should be exclusively breast feed and a supplement of iron must be started from their sixth month of life. The use of cow milk is associated with lower iron absorption and blood loses that can aggravate iron deficiency. Infants who do not receive maternal milk must be fed with an infant formula fortified with iron.
Iron deficiency; iron; dietary; occult blood; anemia